Avenge This!
by ChiZombi
Summary: Before the Avengers form to take care of Loki, Steve Rogers finds one last member to join their team. Coraline Cross has lived most of her life as the host of a fire demon and is tenative to fight with the Avengers. (Note: This is an OC character actually developed for a X-Men fanfic I wrote a long time ago and I'll just be going through the movie.) OCxBruce and OCxSteve


Note: Hey! I own nothing!

Avenge This!

Chapter One: Your Friendly Guardian Demon?

Coraline Cross was tired and irritated as she stomped up the steps to her apartment after a long day of work. Surely the neighbors would get irritated at the sound of big black combat boots as they clomped against the wood. Her keys were well hidden in her gray messenger bag and it took more than a few moments to locate them. Finally, she was in her apartment kicking off her shoes and throwing her bag on the floor.

"I'm home," Coraline said to no one in particular.

**That's stupid. You are the only person that lives here. You don't even have a cat, Cora.** Effriet, the fire demon Coraline hosted in her body, spoke in her head.

"Not by my choice, Effie. I'm pretty sure if I owned a cat you'd try to eat it while I was sleeping. I'm not fond of the idea of waking up with blood and fur in my mouth." Cora muttered, not bothered at all by the mental images Effie offered up of half-eaten cat. Instead she grabbed the Chinese take-out from the fridge. She didn't even bother warming it up in the microwave before digging in with chopsticks. There was a mattress in the living room that faced a TV on the floor. She sat down and grabbed the remote, turning it on to the news.

"_This evening, Tony Stark tower lights up the sky with its own clean energy source…"_

She watched, mostly zoning it out as she ate her food. Soon enough she was falling asleep.

Sleep was often fitful. It always seemed like Cora and Effie dreamed more than the average human. Almost every night they had the same kind of dream; Effriet was back in Hell, being tortured by the older demons. It was painful for the both of them because of their special connection. It was always like Coraline was being tortured too. The most horrific things happened and they seemed so real. Usually she lost control of her powers in the middle of the night and something ended up on fire.

Coraline woke up in a cold sweat to the fire alarm.

Well, that was how she normally woke up, but not this morning. It was really a bunch of fire engine and police sirens right outside the apartment. She was still wearing her skinny jeans and black Star Wars shirt from the day before. Her TV was still on, playing some soap commercial. She turned it off and looked out her window.

The apartment complex across the street was on fire, along with some of the houses surrounding it. It wasn't any normal fire, either. Coraline could tell something wasn't right. It looked like there was something in the heart of the apartment complex making the fire burn. She ran out of her apartment complex barefoot.

**What do you think you are doing?! We were finally getting a decent amount of sleep…** Effie grumbled, angry that she'd been awoken from her slumber.

_They aren't going to be able to put that big of a fire out without a bunch of people dying!_ Cora screamed in her mind. She raced down the steps, feeling like she was running into a wall of heat. The warmth felt so comfortable. A police officer tried to stop her as she ran into the crowd of onlookers. The firefighters and police were trying to tell people to go home, pack their stuff and leave for the night, but of course no one was listening.

Family members were huddled around, crying over siblings, pets, or children still in the building. With a fire that hot, there wouldn't be many survivors, but Coraline held out for maybe one or two still alive. The fire felt strange and she wasn't sure how to describe it.

Pushing her way through the crowd of people was easy. Cora happened to be stronger than she looked because of her special abilities. On her own, she had some basic fire control which is why Effie found her such an appealing host. Most human bodies end up burning up from being a fire demon host, but Cora was a perfect match and could even use all of Effriet's powers to their full extent without any adverse side effects.

Her body was small enough that she managed to duck under a police officer's arm and run through the fray. Dodging officials, she raced forward. Her mutation also made her particularly agile. People were screaming at her to stop as she jumped into the flaming entrance of the building.

It was so nice to be inside. Her skin felt like all the moisture was being pulled out of her body. The fire was catching Coraline's clothes, but her powers kept them from being completely engulfed. Effie and Cora shivered slightly with delight before continuing on. No amount of fire ever bothered them. She was more worried about the stability of the structure. Most of it was already collapsing. The stairs leading up were pretty much gone. She had to jump, grabbing on the flaming wood and lifting herself up, to the next landing.

"ANYONE IN HERE?" She probably wouldn't be heard over the roar of the inferno, but she'd try anyway. Taking a moment to listen and getting no response she went to the third floor. This time, the stairs were still almost intact. This floor was where the heart of the flame was.

Carefully, not sure what to expect, she moved forward. The damage on this floor was worse than the last. That was when she heard it. The faintest little sound came from a room on her right.

"HELLO?" Cora called out. Again, there was a tiny squeak of a sound. She ran towards it into one of the apartments. There was nothing in the living room but fire. In the corner in front of what was left of a door were the burnt remains of a person. Looking around she saw two more figures sprawled across the floor. There was a pain in Coraline's chest as she walked up to the first body. Once she was there she heard the noise again, a bit louder. Stepping over the body and ducking through the burnt opening she saw she was in the bathroom. In the bathtub was a bundle of blankets on fire.

"Hello?" She stepped forward tentatively.

"Meow." This time she could make out the sound. Cora acted immediately; pulling off the blankets to reveal a small young girl, badly burnt protecting a tiny kitten. She picked them both up, cradling them in her arms and using her ability to manipulate fire to create a protective sphere around them. She examined the blanket. At one point, it must have been wet wool. She extinguished the flames on it and tried the faucet of the sink. Of course it wouldn't work. Still, without being wet the blanket could protect them from the smoke a little. She wrapped it around them and hurried out. She wouldn't have much time if the girl was alive. If.

She could chance escaping with the girl and cat or she could try to put the entire fire out. If she chose the second option she could stop the inferno from spreading. Decision made she headed farther down the hall. The sight she was met with was unlike anything she'd ever seen. It was like a cyclone of fire in the middle of the building.

Coraline stepped in, setting the girl down at her feet. The flame pushed and penetrated her protections.

Effie seemed to know what was about to happen and bubbled with excitement. **Can we eat it?!**

Cora nodded and it began. She consciously pulled the inferno into her body. Her skin cracked from the power she was pulling in. Her body began changing, breaking free from the limitations of her human body, and transforming into Effriet's true form.

IN THE MEANTIME…

Steve Rogers wasn't tired. It was around three-o-clock in the morning and he wasn't even faintly exhausted. There was only so much someone could stand being in the gym so he liked to take walks around the city and see what was new. He saw the fire and started running. It seemed to be out of control already but maybe he could help.

When he got there, people were screaming and pointing at the building. Officials where pointing at the entrance. "What happened," he asked a woman next to him.

"Some crazy girl just ran into the building!" It sickened him somewhat to see how excited she was about it. Angered, he ran forward, pushing people and officials out of the way. Grabbing a wet wool blanket from one of the firefighters he barreled into the building. Maybe the other girl was okay?

In the building he could see the structure was mostly collapsed. The fire burned at his skin, but he ignored the pain. He could see the girl on the second floor. He called out to her. "Hey!"

Wondering how she even got up there he jumped up himself. She was moving fast, pausing only a couple times. The heat was insufferable and he wrapped the wool around him, breathing through it. He could barely see past the blaze and smoke, but it was as if she had no problem. He continued following her up the next flight of stairs.

By the caught up with her he was badly burned and coughing. There she was, a bundle at her feet, floating in the middle of the hallway surrounded by a cyclone of fire. Her shape was all wrong though. There was two large things extending from her shoulders and she looked larger. The fire seemed to be attracted to her, drawn in like a magnet.

He stared in amazement for a moment before the most unearthly scream blasted his ears and he was pushed forward. Down on the ground he could barely see what was going on. He clutched the blanket around him as flame rushed past in huge waves. His skin was burning. The world went dark.

When Steve woke up, the building was a smoldering ruin around him. The building creaked ominously as he slowly stood up. There, a few feet in front of him, was the body of a girl. She was completely naked and unharmed. It looked like she was passed out over a lump of blankets. Using the tatters of the wool blanket he covered her, putting her over his shoulder. When he moved her it disturbed the pile underneath her.

The little kitten mewed at him, nuzzling its burnt owner. He kneeled down and checked the girl for a pulse. There it was, but it was faint. He picked her up as well in his big arms, managing to grab the cat as well. He carefully made his way out of the building, testing every step as he went. Firefighters met him on the first floor and took the girls away from him.

He awkwardly stood around, holding the little kitten that was intent on giving him a bath. Walking forward he allowed medics to look him over. His burn wounds had already mostly healed while he'd been out and he was pretty sure his hoarse throat would be next. He wasn't too worried about what smoke damage might have been done to his lungs. So far, nothing he'd gone through yet had been permanent. A few yards away from him they were strapping the two girls he found to gurneys.

One of the EMTs finally took the cat away, promising to find the owner. They ushered him into an ambulance and away. S.H.E.I.L.D. was going to get a kick out of this. He was pretty sure Nick Fury had already figured out he had not come back from his walk. To be honest, he'd probably been followed by an agent who was already reporting back where Steve was going. Figuring that Fury would meet him at the hospital he leaned his head back against the wall and sighed.


End file.
